I’ve got a Spec Crave hard tail that weighs 24 lbs and a Spec Camber full suspension that weighs 29.5 lbs. The Camber is still the fastest in every situation and more comfortable. From tarmac climbs, flat canals, to rocky DH’s. Only time its slower is lifting it over a gate!

A reverb only adds 600G if you didn’t have seatpost to begin with.

Its more like 400g

Is the weight difference of a Reverb noticeable the first time you hit a hill climb ? I’ll probably have to look at trying to save 400g to make up for it. Possibly lighter inner tubes, and carrying less stuff in the camelback, and a lighter pump, would make it up. As my tubes and pump are probably the cheapest and heaviest you can get. Plus taking the rear Mud Hugger off will save 200g. It’s not essential outside of Winter.

My MTB is under 25 lb complete with full mudguards and bottle cages and a bash ring and big tyres. I am slow up hills, a lighter bike helps. I haven’t broken it so its strong enough for me.

Tandem is 48lbs. Very strong build

I save weight where I can without losing function. Foam grips for example just work well and are comfy and weigh next to nothing

Is the weight difference of a Reverb noticeable the first time you hit a hill climb ?

No. Even on a 20lb whippet, it’s only 5% of the total weight of the bike. A little extra weight on one component doesn’t really have an effect. It’s when every component is a little portly that it all adds up and you notice.

Additional weight of a reverb is not noticeable on the climbs. Even if it were the time gained on the downs due to the reverb will make up for the time lost on the climbs by many factors. You have to look at the net benefit of everything. If its lighter then that is an upside, but what are the downsides – its weaker? I don’t normally watch XC MTB racing but watched the olympics XC race last year and was amazed at the number of punctures and wheels apparently folding and breaking. I can’t imagine the small number of seconds saved with lighter paper thin tyres and lighter wheels can make up for the time it takes to ride a bike back to the pits on a punctured wheel.

Never really given bike weight much thought. But a few years back I saw this and have always fancied doing something similar.

Lighter than my Road bike

It’s easy to build a light bike if you simply don’t attach a lot of the components…

grannyjone – Member

Is the weight difference of a Reverb noticeable the first time you hit a hill climb ?

Probably not, it’s not much. Some really attuned people might, or feel a difference in the balance, I suppose- I can’t.

But the trick isn’t so much the first hill climb as the last- that’s when the weight could add up just from extra effort you didn’t notice over the course of the race. Or for that matter where you might find energy saved with the reverb due to easier descending and better conservation of speed pays off. I’m not a proper XC racer tbh but I’ve thought about this over the years of doing endurance type XC and though it definitely does benefit me on the descents where i really feel it is going into the climb after, fresher. And if I can start a climb better I tend to continue better, it’s just psychology.

But that’s just me. If I’d learned the skillset of really riding well with the seat up, I’d maybe feel different. I never will, it’s a useless cul-de-sac, but that means I can’t compare. And not many people can I think.

wobbliscott – Member

I can’t imagine the small number of seconds saved with lighter paper thin tyres and lighter wheels can make up for the time it takes to ride a bike back to the pits on a punctured wheel.

Of course it doesn’t- it’s a gamble basically. The olympics basically encouraged rolls of the dice from riders that weren’t otherwise expecting to compete for a medal, because they had little to lose.

But that’s just me. If I’d learned the skillset of really riding well with the seat up, I’d maybe feel different. I never will, it’s a useless cul-de-sac, but that means I can’t compare. And not many people can I think.

Riding descents with the Seat high all the time is hard, I don’t see how it’s possible to ride them as well as with the seat down. It feels much harder on the body as well. Often if I ride with a High Seat on a descent I’ll get to the bottom battered and low back pain will kick in. Once Low Back pain kicks in, I’m shit at the climbs.